Heavy snow hits northwest Wisconsin; flooding dangers in south

April 20, 2013

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A snowstorm that swept across the northwest Wisconsin on Friday dumped as much as 3 feet of snow in some places. Meanwhile, residents stayed dry in southern Wisconsin, savoring a respite from heavy rainfall that already brought a number of rivers at or above flooding levels.

Rising rivers prompted a highway closure in Kenosha County, while volunteers in Rock County spent the day filling thousands of sandbags for homeowners whose basements had filled with water.

Power was turned off to some areas in Rock County for safety reasons and water-covered roads were shut down throughout the county, sheriff's Deputy Barbara Tillman said.

Mississippi River communities in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri are expected to see significant flooding , a sharp contrast to just two months ago when the river was approaching record lows.

In northern Wisconsin, residents were dealing with a cold spell that dropped 22 inches of snow in Cornucopia in Bayfield County, and 20 inches in parts of Douglas County south of Superior.